It's Always Been You
by emmerlii
Summary: When Archie Simpson asks Emma to see him in his Principal's office, she has no idea how different her life is about to be.


Emma Nelson walked up the familiar steps out the front of Degrassi Community School. Whenever she came back here, memories of her time as a student here flooded her mind. Some good, others not so great. She let out a small breath as she opened the front doors and walked into the main lobby.

Principal Archie Simpson, her stepfather, had asked her to come, though he hadn't told her why. He said it was a surprise. The halls of the school were deserted, since everyone was away on holidays. Which made this seem even more bizarre. _Surely, we couldn't have just met at mum's?_ Emma thought to herself.

Emma walked over to the reception desk. "Hello? Dad?" she called, trying to peer into the principal's office.

"Wait here," Emma heard Archie say to whoever was inside his office. Emma frowned but thought nothing of it.

"Emma, hey!" Archie said as he walked out of his office. He flew his arms out to the side and embraced Emma in a big hug. "How are you?" he asked.

"I'm great, Dad, thanks. How are you?"

"I'm good, Emma," Archie said, beaming down at his step daughter.

"Okay, you're weirding me out," Emma said after a few seconds of awkward silence. "Why did you ask me here? _Here_ especially, since it's the holidays," she said, gesturing to the empty halls.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Archie said.

"They couldn't come to mum's place?"

"They weren't sure if anyone still lived there."

"Still?"

"Emma, come into my office."

Emma trailed Archie into his office. When she entered, she stopped dead in her tracks.

A head of unmistakable dark blond curls looked up at her. "Hi, Emma," they said.

"Sean?" Emma looked at Archie confused. She rubbed her face, hoping that this wasn't a dream. When she opened her eyes again, standing in front of her was Sean Cameron.

"Sean!" she flung herself at him, embracing Sean in the tightest hug she could manage.

"Woah, Emma, hey," Sean said, returning the hug. Holding her in his arms again felt like home.

When the hug broke, Emma slapped Archie on his upper left arm. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"Blame Sean, he wanted it to be a surprise," he said, rubbing his arm.

"I don't think I could be more surprised if I tried." She looked at Sean. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm out," Sean said. "I left the army. For good."

"You did?" Emma asked.

"I had to. It got too much, Em." He looked at Archie briefly. He held out his hand. "Come on, we've got a lot of catching up to do."

Emma took his hand, suddenly aware of the ring on her finger.

When they were outside again, Sean let go of her hand. "A ring, huh?" he asked. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Uh, Spinner," Emma said.

"Spinner?" Sean asked curiously. "As in Gavin Mason?"

Emma nodded. She still hadn't gotten over just how ridiculous it sounded. "You married Spinner?"

"We were drunk," Emma said, trying not to laugh at the expression on Sean's face. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Wow, okay," Sean said, thinking for a moment. "How long have you two been married?"

"About four years."

"Wow, four years. Well, good on you, Em. I'm glad you're happy."

"I am happy," she said, looking down at her ring. _Nothing ever made me happier than when I was with you though,_ she thought to herself.

About a year ago, Emma and Spinner had been talking about free passes, usually a celebrity, where you get to have a night of fun and the other person is completely okay with it, no questions asked. Spinner had said Jennifer Aniston. Emma had said Sean. Spinner wasn't expecting it, but he understood. "If he ever comes back, go for it," Spinner had said. Now Sean was back, what was Emma supposed to do?

They walked slowly to the park nearby, sitting down on one of the picnic tables. The sun was shining and it was a warm afternoon. Emma took off her jacket and placed it under her.

"Have you found anyone?" she asked when the conversation lulled.

"Not really," Sean replied. "No one worth mentioning anyway."

He looked at Emma. They stayed silent. It felt so natural to just be with Sean. Not having to worry about conversations or what was going to happen next. It was like that with Spinner too, but nothing felt like it did with Sean.

Emma rested her head on Sean's shoulder. Sean moved away slightly. "Sorry," Emma said under her breath.

"It's okay, Em," Sean said. "You're married, I just don't wanna overstep where I should be."

Emma looked at Sean again. All she wanted was to kiss him. So much time had passed since they'd been together, had any physical contact at all, part of her felt like she was forgetting it.

Emma cleared her throat. "So, what made you come back here? Why not Wasaga Bay?"

"I went to Wasaga initially," Sean said, looking down, "but my parents are gone."

"They didn't leave a forwarding address?"

"No, Emma, I mean they're _gone_ gone."

"Oh!" Emma said a bit too loudly. "I'm sorry, Sean." She placed her arm around him and rubbed his shoulder. "Can I ask what happened?"

"The doctors said it was a heart attack."

"For both of them?"

"Yeah. My dad had one, and then two weeks later, my mum had one. I guess you can't really live without the ones you love," Sean said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's always been you, Em," he looked up at her. "It's always been you. I haven't loved anyone as much as I've loved you. I've never stopped loving you."

Before Emma could say a word, Sean's lips were on hers. It was perfect. Everything felt perfect. When they broke apart, Emma had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sean asked, alarmed. "Was it that bad?"

"No, Emma said, giving a small sniff. "It was perfect. I need to talk to Spinner."

"Right, yeah," Sean said, nodding. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yeah."

Emma rang Spinner, saying that she needed to talk to him urgently. She felt bad about it. When they were playing the free pass game, they never thought for a second that Sean would ever come back. She was terrified that she was going to break Spinner's heart. Part of her was comforted by the fact that Spinner had once said he would understand if she left him for Sean, saying that he always liked them together. Bit of a strange thing to say to your wife about another man, but there were worse things Spinner could've said.

They walked back to the school's carpark and got into Emma's car.

When they arrived, Sean opted to stay in Emma's car.

As she was about to open the front door, Spinner bet her to it. "Hey," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. He looked past her. "Is that Sean in your car? He's back?" Spinner's smile grew wider. He walked straight past Emma and opened the passenger side of the car. "Sean, hey!" he said.

Sean stepped out of the car and hugged Spinner, looking at Emma with a _What do I do?_ face. Emma shrugged at him.

When the hug broke, Spinner looked at Emma, then Sean, and smiled. "Come on inside, Sean. I just made a cake actually."

"You bake?" Sean asked.

"Well, after someone," he looked at Emma, "burned down my place of work with a faulty appliance, I prefer to do all the cooking around here."

"You burned down a restaurant?" Sean asked, looking at Emma.

"It was The Dot. Things happen. It's been five years and I'd like to move on, if that's okay with you," Emma laughed.

Sean stayed in the living room, uncomfortably, while Emma and Spinner talked.

"Well, I have to say," Spinner said after a few moments of thinking. "I'm not really surprised this is happening. I mean, I had no idea Sean was ever gonna come back. But I'm not surprised that you wanna be with him."

"Do you hate me?" Emma asked. She truly felt awful about doing this to Spinner. He'd always been so kind and loving to her.

"No, Em, of course I don't hate you," he grasped her hands. "All I've ever wanted for you is for you to be happy. If Sean can make you happier than I can, then so be it. I don't want you to stay with me always wondering 'what if?' you know?" Spinner smiled. "I'm glad he's back and you two can finally be together."

"You mean it?" Emma smiled. She still felt guilty, but relieved. She couldn't have picked a better person to leave, as awful as that sounded.

"I do, Em. Hey, Sean, come here," Spinner called.

Sean walked into the kitchen looking tense and rigid.

"You have my blessing," Spinner said to him.

"Really?" Sean asked. He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face.

"Really. I want Emma to be happy, and this is probably the happiest I can make her."

"Thanks, man," Sean said. He walked over to Spinner and hugged him.

"What about, uh, everything?" Emma said, gesturing to their house and belongings.

"Oh, right," Spinner said. "Don't worry about it, all right? I'll handle it. I'll handle everything."

"Everything?" Emma asked.

"All of it."

"Thank you, Spinner." Emma kissed his cheek.

"It's been my pleasure to call you my wife, Emma Mason, or would you be Emma Cameron in a few weeks?" Spinner asked, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"I'm not sure yet," Emma laughed.

"Well, keep me updated," he said. "Sean? Make sure she's happy, okay?"

"I will, Spin."

"Good. Well, off you two go. You've got years to catch up on."

"Thank you, Spinner, for everything, I truly mean it," Emma said in the doorway.

"All I've ever wanted for you is to be happy, Em. Now you finally can be. I'm not saying you weren't happy with me, but I know that I'm not Sean. No one could fill that part in you but him."

"You've been so understanding about all of this." Emma felt like she might cry.

"When you said Sean's name last year when we were playing that stupid free pass game, I understood then. He's your everything. He's your soulmate. I'd be an asshole if I came between something that special."

Emma looked back at Sean, waiting patiently in the passenger seat of Emma's car.

"Thank you," Emma said again. She couldn't stop thanking Spinner for everything. "You made me happy, I don't want you to think that you didn't." She kissed Spinner's cheek.

"It's all right, Emma. We're still friends, so no harm done. I couldn't have asked to spend the last four years with a better person. You're kind, loving, funny. Sean's a lucky guy. Now, off you go."

Emma gave Spinner another hug and thanked him again for how well he'd handled things today.

"All set?" Sean asked.

"Yeah." Emma leaned over and kissed Sean. She couldn't believe she got to do this again, whenever she wanted.


End file.
